Dissolving Candy Fish For Fun Dr Seuss Science!

Science and literacy all wrapped up in one fun hands-on science activity with this dissolving candy fish experiment. Using candy fish is the perfect way to explore science and enjoy a classic Dr. Seuss book, One fish two fish red fish blue fish, all in one! Get ready to set up this incredibly simple and fun science activity for kids!

ONE FISH TWO FISH RED FISH BLUE FISH CANDY EXPERIMENT!

EASY DR SEUSS ACTIVITIES

Get ready to add this simple kitchen science, dissolving candy experiment to your Dr Seuss lesson plans this season. If you want to learn about solutes and solvents, let’s dig in! While you’re at it, check out these other Dr Seuss activities you can try with only simple low-cost supplies.

DISSOLVING CANDY FISH ACTIVITY

Let’s get right to the supplies and set up for this dissolving fish science activity for our One fish two fish red fish blue fish Dr Seuss science. Head to the kitchen, and open the pantry. Any small jars or clear plastic cups will work! Sorry, no blue fish available here!

Exploring solubility is awesome kitchen science. You can raid the pantry for liquids such as water, milk, vinegar, oil, rubbing alcohol, juice, soda or seltzer, and hydrogen peroxide (which we recently used for a very cool hydrogen perioxide and yeast experiment.

You can also choose to use warm, cold, and room temperature water for a simple set-up with your gummy candy fish.

This dissolving candy fish experiment asks the questions:

Do candy fish dissolve in water? (Option 1)

Which temperature of water dissolves candy fish quickest? (Option 2)

Which liquid is a better solvent for dissolving candy fish? (Option 3)

YOU WILL NEED:

Gummy Candy Fish

Small glass or plastic jars

Warm water

Rubbing alcohol

Vinegar

Cooking oil

Stir sticks

Dr Seuss Book: One fish two fish red fish blue fish

HOW TO SET UP ONE FISH TWO FISH ACTIVITY:

STEP 1: Place one gummy candy fish in each jar. We used four jars and four different liquids. (See the possible options for this activity below.)

STEP 2: Pour a different liquid into each jar, You can use warm water, rubbing alcohol, vinegar, and cooking oil. Additionally, you can try juice, soda, seltzer, or milk! Make sure you note which jar has which in it.

Orange- water Green- alcohol Yellow-vinegar Red- oil

STEP 3: Observe the jars over several hours to see what happens to the gummy candy fish. Alternatively, you can set a specific time allotment and record the results after a set period of time! Or even come back to it the next day.

DISSOLVING CANDY FISH IN THE CLASSROOM

There are a few different ways this dissolving candy fish experiment can be set up for kids at home or in the classroom.

FIRST SET UP OPTION: Use one jar of tap water to demonstrate to the whole class what happens to gummy candy fish in a jar of water over time. This makes a great intro to the overall activity, and an obvious prompt for discussion. (See possible questions below.)

SECOND SET UP OPTION: Use different temperature water in each jar to investigate whether the temperature of the water affects what happens to the candy fish. This is a good option to use as a small group activity.

THIRD SET UP OPTION: Use a variety of liquids to test which liquid makes a better solvent for sugar (or candy fish). Examples of different liquids you could use are water, milk, vinegar, oil, rubbing alcohol, juice, soda or seltzer, and hydrogen peroxide.

SIMPLE QUESTIONS TO GET YOUR YOUNG LEARNER THINKING

BEFORE:

What are all the things you are keeping the same and what one thing are you changing in this experiment?

What do you think WILL happen to the candy fish when you put them in the jar of water, alcohol, vinegar, oil?

Will something different happen or will the same thing happen for each jar? (PREDICTION)

DURING:

What IS happening to the candy fish?

Has anything changed in each jar?

What does the liquid look like now? What do the candy fish look like now? (OBSERVATION)

AFTER:

Which jars had a change and which didn’t? Why do you think that happened? (EXPLANATION)

Can you think of any everyday examples when a similar thing happens? (APPLICATION)

THE SCIENCE OF DISSOLVING CANDY FISH

What does it take to make candy fish disappear? Looks like these funny fish make for fun science to go along with a silly book.

WHY DOES CANDY DISSOLVE?

Generally, a sugary candy will dissolve in water because water and sugar are highly attracted to one another. Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen and so is sugar!

WHY ARE SOME LIQUIDS BETTER SOLVENTS THAN OTHERS?

Solubility is how well something is able to dissolve in a solvent. What you are trying to dissolve may be a solid, liquid, or a gas and the solvent could also be a solid liquid or a gas. So testing solubility is not limited to testing a solid in a liquid solvent! But, that’s what we are doing here with our dissolving gummy candy fish.